Ed Hinton

Character actor, Edgar Latimer Hinton, Jr. was one of three persons killed when a single engine amphibious plane hit a cliff and plunged into Toyon Bay, Santa Catalina Island. The plane took off from the bay, circled once, and hit a 40-foot cliff in front of the exclusive Toyon Bay Boat Club. Hinton was a guest at the club with his wife, Marilynn and their three children. He had been summoned abruptly to the mainland and was due in Utah the next day to begin a movie. The crash occurred in full view of Hinton's family who had come down to the boat club pier to wave goodbye. The aircraft, a Republic Seabee, had taken off about 4 p.m. from Orange County Airport. The pilot, Vince Pardue, had been trying to organize a charter air service from Orange County Airport to Santa Catalina Island. Toyon Bay Boat Club manager Bob Robb said that Pardue had contacted the club about the charter and when Hinton heard that Pardue was returning to the mainland he arranged for a ride. The single engine amphibian headed out to sea, then apparently returned at low altitude so that Hinton could wave to his wife and three children standing on the dock. The plane suddenly lost altitude, smashed into a cliff and fell to the rocky beach.